John R. Steer

Mr. John R. Steer of Fairfax Station, Virginia is a Senior Partner with Allenbaugh Samini/ LLP (with offices in Newport Beach, CA, Washington, DC and GuangZhou, China). Before joining the firm in January 2008, he served as a member and Vice Chair of the United States Sentencing Commission from November 1999 – December 2007.  Prior to these appointments by Presidents Clinton and Bush, he was the Commission’s General Counsel for more than 12 years. Mr. Steer is a recognized authority on the federal sentencing guidelines, including the principles of the guidelines that describe effective risk assessment and compliance programs for business organizations. These standards have become recognized as an international model for developing programs that help businesses establish an ethical culture and meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Mr. Steer led the efforts to strengthen these compliance features in 2004 and frequently lectures on these subjects.     

Previously, Mr. Steer had a long career with the United States Senate, including service as legislative director for U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond and counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1979-1985 and as administrative assistant to Senator Thurmond from 1985-1986.

Mr. Steer has presented testimony on sentencing issues at several House and Senate Committee hearings, and given sentencing presentations at international conferences in Brazil and Russia (including testimony before the Russian Duma).  He has also authored a number of law review and journal articles on a variety of topics related to sentencing.